1879
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Diego Martelli is a 1879 by Edgar Degas, a Impressionism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
Here’s a man slumped in a chair, head propped on one hand, eyes half-closed like he’s too tired to care. The lines are loose, almost scribbled, as if Degas drew it in a hurry. This is Diego Martelli, an Italian critic who helped spread the word about Impressionism. He wrote about Degas and his friends, defending their work when others laughed. The sketch feels alive—like Degas caught him mid-thought, not posing for a portrait. Look up the painted versions of this same man at the National Gallery of Scotland to see how Degas turned this quick study into a finished work.
This sheet is one of many studies that Degas made in 1879 of his friend and supporter, the Italian art critic and patron Diego Martelli (1839-1896). Martelli was one of the most important champions of progressive modern art in Italy, and his writings on the 1879 Impressionist show became famous, playing a crucial role in publicizing the movement. This sheet relates to two painted portraits of the critic, one in the National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh, and the other in the National Museum of Fine Arts, Buenos Aires.
The ghostly white tone of Diego Martelli's face was likely pink or peach when Degas made the work, and has gradually faded over time.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas on 19 July 1834 in Paris, Edgar Degas came from an affluent banking family with aristocratic roots and spent his childhood among the cultivated circles of the French capital.
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